PABallet will be dancing Jerry Robbin's The Concert (company premiere), Balanchine's Raymonda Variations and Wheeldon's Continuum (company priemiere). I have been looking forward to this program all year. The casting roster is up at the PABallet web site for those of you who are interested! Hope to take in a few performances. The Concert is one of my favorite ballets and I look forward to this company showing off their comedic skills. Also excited about the Wheeldon piece which was originally set on San Francisco Ballet. This is wonderful programing IMO

Since no one else here has commented, PABallet's "The Concert" program was terrific! The combination of Balanchine, Robbins and Wheeldon worked well combining a spectrum of ballet material which delighted, evoked and gave laughter to the human condition.

Raymonda Variations......
The dancing was clear and rhythmic with a sweet air of classical tradition in Raymonda Variations. I liked the ways in which Balanchine reinvents the old classical Raymonda by paring down to the dancing essentials and giving this famliar ballet music a fresh air.
The dancers were wonderful in this. Both principle casts gave the charm needed and the corps soloists excelled in al their variations which are full of difficult turns, hops and balances.

Continuum......
Wheeldon's piece, originally set on SFB, paid homage to Balanchine in its use of neo classical design and the neo classical look of belted leotards, in deep green rather than black. There were two pas's that riveted me in particular. But the work meandered on a bit too long and had little or no resolve. As interesting as much of the choreography was, I was unable to wrap myself around the piece as a whole. Again, both casts danced with conviction and detail to one another in some very complex partnering. I did like seeing this kind of work on this company and felt it must have given the dancers an opportunity to stretch their talents in new directions.

The Concert......
What a romp! The humor grips me every time I see this ballet and PABallet dancers performed it with great comedic sense again showing their versatility and comic penache. This will be such a wonderful addition to an already growing repertory. In each cast, Rio Lama Lorenzo and Aranxta Ochoa gave the ballerina role its serendipidous flip, the mistake waltz was performed with perfect (imperfect?) timing and the butterfly chase in the finale captured my funny bone! Everyone needs to see this ballet sometime in their lifetime. It is just purely genius choreography and staging!

Thanks you PABallet for an outstanding program~ The company is dancing stronger than ever!

All these dancers had beautiful line and strong connection with their respective partners. PABallet seems to always dance with a true community spirit in most everything that they perform IMO.
Both Rio/Val and with Ihde/Rainey had some lovely moments in one of their PDD's that ends on the floor down stage one folded over the other.

I can tell you that I did like the piece much better after my first viewing.
It just wasn't as fulfilling as other Wheeldon works that I have seen.

Thanks for posting this interview! I enjoyed hearing from these two wonderful dancers who 'mysteriously' left SFB for PABallet a year ago.
Their comments about schedules and opportunity were the first time I have heard them speak about their change of employment and what they were looking for in their careers. Sorry that I will miss seeing them dance together in R and J It will be special for sure

I was so glad to read this article because it spoke of Martha Koeneman, the soloist pianist for PABallet. She is a wonder and gained my admiration especially from the previous program where she performed the all-consumed pianist in "The Concert" as well as playing the Legati piece of Chris Wheeldon. She was amazing and incredibly sensitive to the dancers.
Kudos to Martha!

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